Stanford Health Care deploys telehealth platform to bridge gaps in emergency care

Jackie Drees -

Stanford (Calif.) Health Care launched telehealth services within its pediatric emergency department to allow the health system's pediatric specialists at other facilities to provide care for patients virtually, according to a Dec. 3 news release.

Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital does not have an ED, so emergency care for pediatric patients is provided at Stanford Hospital. Prior to implementing the telehealth services, Stanford pediatric specialists had to walk from LPCH to the pediatric ED to assess and admit patients to LPCH.

With the telehealth platform, LCPH clinicians can perform virtual exams and consults to determine whether a child should be admitted for inpatient care. The Cisco software can be used on an iPad or Windows computer, and medical teams can use it to discuss patient transfers face-to-face with patients' parents.

"The best part of telehealth is it helps close the gap in communication between the care teams, while also getting the family involved in the care experience," said Maria Cheung, RN, an assistant patient care manager in Stanford's ED, according to the report. "This decreases the anxiety of the patients and their families, improves the handoff and enhances patient care."

Stanford developed several features for its telehealth platform, including a centrally managed telehealth directory, three-way video conferencing and custom reporting features. The health system plans to deploy the virtual care services on a larger scale and add a telehealth workstation in every pediatric ED exam room, according to the news release.

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